Covert Operations
by Hellsfirescythe
Summary: Catch? There’s always a catch. Giant not so alien robots from outer space just weren’t the catch that anyone was expecting. G1TransformersHeroes crossover
1. Found?

Title: Covert Operations  
Author: Darkfireblade aka Hellsfire.scythe  
Rating: PG-13  
Genre: Adventure/Drama  
Chapter: 1/?  
Summary: Catch? There's always a catch. Giant not-so alien robots from outer space just weren't the catch that anyone was expecting.  
Notes/Warnings: This starts from Heroes episode "Fallout" and diverges from the series continuity. Will be AU. Also, for Transformers, the story will diverge from the series before the movie. Thanks to mommimusprime aka beertree and Kurohyou for betaing this chapter.

* * *

_Six Months Ago_

"Careful, steady there."

A black-clad security guard waved disdainfully at the trundling line of fork-lifts as the voice echoed once again from regularly placed loudspeakers. The queue went on, carrying its precious cargo, most drivers tuning out the instructions that they've been listening to for the past few weeks. The guard made no visible show of surprise when a hand clamped firmly down on his shoulder and drew him aside.

"Officer, do tell the workers to take more care with their shipments. If I find any sort of damage on the equipment, there will be more than your own job at risk. Understand?"

The guard pivoted sharply to see severe dark eyes glaring sharply at him. Long fingers tightened momentarily on his shoulder and he maintained a straight face as the other's eyes darted anxiously at the passing crates.

"Yes sir."

The scientist drew away and wiped his fingers distastefully against his pristine lab coat. With one more cursory glance towards the officer, he whirled around and strode away, loafers clipping softly against the stone floor. He stopped only to jerk a tarp back over a large metal protrusion. When the scientist disappeared, stiffly, the security guard resumed his post with a more watchful eye.

* * *

Manila folders scattered haphazardly over the meeting table, spilling papers and transparencies into laps and onto the floor. Shocked faces turned in unison to stare at the offender. 

"Doctor, if you would please have your seat."

A scandalized hiss rang loudly in the silent room. "I will _not_! I do not care if you are board director, the idea you are proposing is ludicrous!"

"May I inquire why?"

"I have spent years dedicated to this project and you expect me to turn over our only specimen to the highest bidder? We are limited enough as it is with subjects. I refuse to barter our resources away in such a way."

"The matter is closed to your opinions. This project has gone over-budget too many times and the over-curious public is wondering where all their excess tax money has gone. We need the money now."

"And throw away years of research and work?"

"Your team has all the designs and the experience. Build another. Perhaps you will find a more efficient way of doing so this time. You are dismissed."

Coat-tails flapping behind him, the doctor left the room. As soon as he exited the building and ensconced himself within the bulletproof interior of his escort vehicle, the scientist paused to stare at the statement in his hands.

With a roll of his eyes, he flipped to the last few pages, this specimen's technical specifications that filled the first few pages were as well known to him as the back of his hand.

**EXCHANGE/CONTAINMENT AREA: United States of America; Los Angeles International Airport; HotSpur Car Rental Garage**

Dark eyes narrowed in consternation as the scientist scanned over their client's name. Lips pursed in frustration and resignation. This was definitely a client that no one wanted on their trail. Reluctantly, the doctor flipped back to the front and stared at a photo of the specimen.

No matter, with enough time and money, it would become obsolete. Let the high roller think that he got something good. After the team applied some finishing touches, specimen 81309 would have to go.

_Present Time_

_click clack...click click click clack...click click cl-_

A pillow hurtled across the room. The sound of its soft thud of impact was quickly followed up by a surprised and disgruntled yelp. Huddled miserably in the middle of the motel bed, a pair of dark eyes flashed blearily with annoyance before their owner retracted his arm back into the warmth of his blankets. "Hiro, just get to bed," this wasn't the first time those words were uttered in the past several hours.

Body haloed by the bright light of laptop screen, Hiro's previous tired slump quickly drew back up into a posture of determination. "I need to find that sword." That answer had also seen its many uses and the groan that reverberated back from the bed was filled with as much frustration towards the reply as it was to the speaker.

"It's two o'clock…in the morning," was plaintive answer as a hand groped around the bed searching for more projectiles. When unable to find any, the figure settled down to just pulling the thin blanket further down over his eyes. "Bed. Now."

Further away, another figure twisted in his sleep. Mr. Isaac Mendez looked as if he could sleep through anything, sprawled across the sagging couch of the motel room.

Hiro glanced back towards the glowing monitor of the laptop and then back at his companion. For a moment, his hand rested wearily on the lid as his mind debated. An amused smile crept back over Hiro's face and he hugged the laptop to his chest before jumping into the other bed. "Good night, Ando." In a flash, he pulled the covers over his head and a small beep was heard as the computer re-booted and began to run again.

Back in his own bed, Ando watched glumly as the light of the laptop screen filtered through the flimsy coverlets that the motel called blankets. Well, at least the clacking of the keyboard was slightly more muffled than before. Ando spared one last exhausted glare towards the other bed before curling back up in his own.

Damn stupid cheap motels and their uncontrollable air conditioning.  
What precious hours of sleep Ando was able to gain were interrupted by a re-energized cheer that tore through the silence of the motel. Just as Hiro flung off his blankets, beside him, Ando tumbled off his own bed, limbs flailing as he fought to untangle himself from his blankets. A curse and a thump could be heard as an equally startled Mendez was dragged out of his slumber. Hiro was at Ando's side in moments, laptop in hand and a disgustingly wide smile on his face could be discerned in the pale light of the morning.

"I found it! I found it!"

In his excitement, Hiro had relapsed back into Japanese as he jabbed a finger towards what Ando thought to be was an excessively bright screen. Eyes stinging with tears from the sudden light, Ando rubbed at them furiously before glancing back. A moment of silence passed, and with each progressing second, the expression on Ando's face fell.

"Hiro…this is a pawn broker's shop."

"Yes."

The view of the laptop screen disappeared as Mendez pushed his way into the huddle. Ando resisted the urge to glare at the artist and settled himself firmly at Hiro's side. Mendez took no notice of the action. Instead he studied the webpage further and glanced back up at Hiro.

"Almost two-thousand miles away."

Ando's mind kicked into gear as the quantity made itself clear to him. Two thousand miles. How much of their budget would be siphoned away now for gas prices? He looked askance to Hiro, hoping that the other would rethink his crazy idea of the sword and the cross-country drive.

His face fell as Hiro grinned eagerly towards Mendez and answered. "I know."

The two men stared at each other, one quizzical and the other with lackluster. Loud pounding on the door startled both of them out of their reverie and three heads turned towards the door as more pounding and cursing of loud stupid impolite idiots was made clearly to everyone through the thin walls of the motel. When the racket finally stopped and the area quieted down, Ando sighed and ran his fingers raggedly through his short-cropped hair. "Hiro, I don't see any sword."

Puzzled, Hiro pulled the laptop back and scrutinized the web page. His jubilant smile returned to his face and the laptop was placed back into Ando's hands. "See, it is right here."

Ando squinted at the small background picture of the poorly designed website. Right above where Hiro's finger was pointing, Ando could just barely make out the outline of a sword whose shape he had become so familiar with over the past few days (with Hiro waving the snapshot of Isaac's painting around in his cell phone all the time how could he not?). He glanced away from the image and back at Hiro. "Are you sure this is it?"

The smaller man drew himself upwards and crossed his arms resolutely across his chest, his glasses reflecting the early sun's light. "Positive."

"It's the best lead we've got," chimed in Mendez. At that, Ando couldn't help but see the pleased smile Hiro shot at the artist.

A resigned sigh passed through Ando's lips and he clambered onto his feet and clapped Hiro resoundingly on the shoulder. "Then off we go."

"To the West Coast," grinned Hiro.

"Yes, to the West Coast." Ando echoed back with a smile, ignoring the incessant tightening in his chest at the thought of the journey. It's just nerves, that's all, he told himself before following Hiro out of their room. After all, who would feel up to a 29 hour drive to Portland, Oregon?

* * *

The cross continental drive went by faster than expected, well, at least in Hiro's point of view. Two days of sitting in the back seat of the rental car were spent watching Isaac attempt to sketch something else from the future or pre-occupied by Ando's iPod. The latter of which was confiscated by an irate Ando at a rest stop when Hiro pointed out that it was running low on batteries. 

But twenty hours of driving paid off (nine hours shaved off only because Ando sped). After directions were asked, several u-turns made, and passing some angry drivers, the trio finally found the small pawn shop in one of the suburbs around Portland, Oregon.

Hiro now sat impatiently in the front seat of the blue Nissan Versa, fidgeting as he watched Ando and Isaac disappear through the entrance to the shop.

_"You stay here, Hiro."_

_"But Ando! Why?" Hiro crossed his arms resolutely as Ando heaved a frustrated sigh._

_Isaac answered instead. "You're going to be a liability."_

_"It'll be too hard to get a good price on the weapon if the owner sees how eager you are for it," Ando quickly added in as a startled look passed over Hiro's face. "Just stay here and be quiet, okay?" _

_Hiro nodded slowly and hunkered deeper into his seat. Ando's hand squeezed his shoulder reassuringly. "We'll get the sword, Hiro. Don't worry about it. I'm sure Mr. Mendez can put his other skills to work for us."_

Anxiously, he glanced back at the clock. Only two minutes had passed since Ando and Isaac had passed through the dusty glass door of the shop. Hiro fidgeted in his seat, fighting the urge to just jump out of the car and make after the two. The flash of Ando's keys caught Hiro's eyes and he managed a small smile as he lifted the metal objects up. He turned the keys over in his hands a couple of times before quickly growing bored again.

Another car drove languidly down the road, blasting its radius with bone-shaking tunes as it passed on by.

The radio in their own Nissan Versa beckoned invitingly with its dials and buttons. A tiny nervous smile crossed Hiro's visage and he stared at the keys in his hand and then at the ignition of the car. Ando surely won't mind if he played around a little bit.

Cautiously, Hiro clambered into the driver's seat of the vehicle and settled himself down snuggly. The keys jangled merrily in their holder as Hiro examined them both in detail, wondering which one he had used to turn on the car the last time he had attempted to do something the Versa. He picked one and peered curiously around the wheel for the ignition.

Just before he reached to push the key into its slot, another key-hole caught his eyes. It was smaller and mostly undistinguishable from the black interior of the car, but it was there. Not to mention that it seemed to be just the right size for the other key in on the ring. Hiro's mind raced with possibilities. Maybe this was a super-secret compartment used for hiding away important documents? Or perhaps, this would turn on some really cool feature to the car that was meant to be hidden away? Like the Batmobile!

Previous plans of just playing with the radio thrown out of the door, Hiro inserted the small key into its matching lock and twisted…nothing happened. Nothing at all, no engine rumble, no flashing lights or opening compartments, not even a small beep. Disappointment flooded his system and Hiro grudgingly pulled the key out of its slot. Maybe he had better stick to the radio plan.

Before Hiro could make the change, rapid tapping on the window startled him from his thoughts. Outside the car door, Ando gestured rapidly and impatiently. Excitement back in a flash, Hiro unlocked the car and flung his door open, launching himself towards Ando's direction with a stream of unintelligible chatter trailing behind him.

The flurry of excitement turned quickly into despair as Ando relayed to him the news.

"It's not for sale?!"

Ando winced as Hiro's anguished wail pierced through the beat-up parking lot.

"The shop owner said that he was pretty unwilling to part with the item," murmured Mendez as he thrust his hands deep into jean pockets. "Something about it being a present from old friends."

"I'm sure you'll be fine without it," said Ando hesitantly, squeezing Hiro's shoulder in what was now a habitual gesture. "Who needs a silly sword anyways?"

Bad answer.

Hiro immediately wheeled away, pacing rapidly. "But…I need this sword to save the world. My powers, I need it to focus my powers. It's my destiny, I know it!" The smaller man stopped his movements to look hopefully at Mendez. "Isaac paints the future. He paints me with the sword. I need it to get more powerful. Right?" Hiro's words became more emphasized and staccato as he fought speak understandably in English.

Mendez blanched visibly. Ando frowned in surprise as the artist glanced over to him for aid. What were they supposed to say? Hiro would not take 'No' for an answer. But…

"Do you guys really want the sword that much?"

"Hai!"

Silence permeated the lot as Ando recognized the gruff voice that interrupted their discussion. Hiro had already dashed towards the speaker, his eyes eager and face full of yearning. His positive outburst still rang through the air. Ando reigned in a sigh as he took in the situation. They had shown their hand now and would have to take whatever prize that came their way. Hiro would not leave without the sword, Ando could not leave without Hiro, and Mendez just wouldn't leave.

Slowly, the man rubbed on calloused hand against a pair of worn jean overalls. Weary looking brown eyes regarded each of them thoughtfully before returning back to Hiro. The shop owner shrugged and walked a few paces back towards his store. Ando stared in utter fascination and felt a spike of fear stab into his conscience.

"Well, aren't you guys going to come inside? We have some things to discuss."

* * *

The store interior, surprisingly free of dust compared to its dingy exterior, was as eerily silent as it had been when Ando had first entered the store with Mendez. Hurriedly, the owner slipped behind his counter and beckoned for the rest of the group to follow quickly. 

"What's the catch?" Mendez demanded immediately, arms crossed as he eyed the man across from him suspiciously.

"Catch?" grunted the owner. "What catch?"

"Doesn't matter what people sell. Dealers only call you back after rebuff if there's a catch that goes along with the goods," bit back Mendez with a dry sneer. Ando's eyes widened at the artist's blatant reference. The store owner just cocked an eyebrow.

"Perceptive fellow aren't you?" A smile lighted across the man's tanned features. "You're right; I got a job for you all. You finish it satisfactorily, you keep the sword. Simple."

"What's the job?"

"Will you do it?" There was a light click of metal against glass as the owner set the sword softly on top of the counter.

Silence stretched and Ando found that he was not the only one looking at Hiro in askance. The smaller man's eyes darted around anxiously as he glanced from the sword to the ground. A few seconds later with eyes squeezed shut, Hiro answered with a shaky nod. Mendez breathed an unreadable sigh and Ando felt his stomach sinking. The store owner raked his fingers through short-cropped brown hair as he offered a relieved smile.

"Good. Now here's the job. I have some deliveries that have to be made out in the Boring Lava Fields…"

"Lava fields?" Ando exclaimed.

"The volcanoes have been mostly dormant for thousands of years, you don't have to worry," replied the owner, not allaying Ando's worries at all. "Now, just drive out there with the crate I'm going to give you and my friends should pick it right on up. After you're done just spin back here with some proof and I'll give you the sword."

"Friends?" snorted Mendez. "What sort of friends? How do we know this isn't some sort of heist?"

The other man shrugged slightly. "You don't, but my friends will be civil to you if you're civil to them. Just give them the goods and everything will be fine…I'll let you keep the sword with you for safekeeping and one of you will stay behind with me."

"I'll go with Hiro then…" started Mendez.

"No, I'll go with Hiro. You stay here and make sure our friend won't try anything funny." Ando interrupted quickly as he grabbed hold of Hiro's arm. Mendez's gaze met squarely with Ando and the two sized each other up before the artist broke away with an annoyed sniff.

"Stay out of trouble then, I'll need a ride out here."

"No problem," muttered Ando. "Come on Hiro, let's get this over with."

Cautiously, Hiro stepped towards the counter, hand outstretched. A minute later, Ando and Hiro's exit was marked by a jangle of a bell deeper within the store, leaving Isaac alone with the proprietor.  
With a warning glance shot towards the other man, Isaac set about browsing through the small shop, examining the small items of little value scattered throughout the place. Behind him a phone rang and he listened with half an ear as the owner picked up.

"Hello? Oh hi, I'm kind of busy right now…I'll be home late tonight…I know, honey, but it's urgent…tell the little tyke that daddy loves him….love you too honey, goodnight."

Isaac reigned in a snicker as he set down a small porcelain figure. Family guy, yeah right. He dared a look back at the cash register and saw the owner's back disappearing behind a cloth separator between the store front and storage. Isaac walked closer to examine the relatively new business cards piled neatly on the class counter.

Spike Witwicky. What a stupid name.

* * *

"Don't play with the sword in the car. You're going to break something," hissed Ando. 

Hiro could barely see his friend's expression in the surrounding darkness. The only light available was from the Nissan Versa's headlights, and even that only went so far. Sheepishly, he put down the sheathed weapon and stared out at the passing forest.

"Everything will be fine, Ando. We just drop off the crate, pick up Isaac, and head over to New York to stop the exploding man. No worries!" chirped Hiro, keen on breaking the fearful tension in the car. Ando just kept on driving in silence. "Ando? Do you hear me?"

"Yes I hear you, Hiro. Now be quiet, I need to concentrate on the road."

"Lack of road, Ando."

"Look, I don't ca—"

A loud crash in the forest ground the conversation and the car to a screeching halt. Hiro pushed himself off of front of the dashboard and looked around dazedly.

"Ando? Ando, what happened? Why did you stop?"

Hands waved frantically in Hiro's direction and he could hear Ando's loud shushing noises. Another crash sounded even closer to the Versa and Hiro looked through the windshield. A great hulking figure haloed by the overcast glow of moonlight through clouds was approaching them slowly.

Ando twisted the ignition wildly, and cursed. "The car's stalled!"

"What do we do now?"

Hiro watched as Ando leaned back in the driver's seat, eyes closed as he took a deep breath. Another crash sounded.

"Hiro, on the count of three, we open the car doors and make a break for it."

"We're going to run?"

"One…"

"But Ando!"

"Two…"

"What if—"

"Three!"

Hiro launched himself out of the car without a second thought, sword in hand. A bright light shined down on him, blinding him with its brilliance and freezing him to the spot. He could hear Ando's muffled cries nearby and the crashing growing louder and closer. Nerves steeled, Hiro brought up his sword, said a prayer to whatever gods were listening, and prepared to meet his enemy.

He just wasn't prepared to meet a metallic Tyrannosaurus Rex. 

* * *

A/N: Whew, first chapter done! Just a warning to readers, as school is very much in session as well as track, the chapters will probably be slow in coming out. Thank you for your patience though. I hope you enjoy this as much or even more than I do 


	2. Reunions

Title: Covert Operations  
Author: Darkfireblade aka Hellsfire.scythe  
Rating: PG-13  
Genre: Adventure/Drama  
Chapter: 2/?  
Summary: Catch? There's always a catch. Giant not-so alien robots from outer space just weren't the catch that anyone was expecting.  
Notes/Warnings: This starts from Heroes episode "Fallout" and diverges from the series continuity. Will be AU. Also, for Transformers, the story will diverge from the series before the movie.

* * *

**Chapter Two: Reunions**

Fifteen thousand astro-seconds late. Tardiness for anything never sat well with this mech, but it boded for even more trouble when concerning a certain group of Autobots.

"Spike late! Me Grimlock say we go check it out."

"Slag say Spike always late. What you expect? Humans slow."

"Perceptor, why we no go to Spike ourselves?"

Wearily, Perceptor glanced up from Teletraan-I's consol and eyed the Dinobots, a warning gleam in his optics. "I've explained this to you an exorbitant amount of times. Primus, I think that you'd remember this by now." The scientist remained still as the large mechs lumbered around him, waiting with an air of practiced ease even when Grimlock thrust his muzzle nano-meters away from Perceptor's faceplate.

"Me say we just forgot."

"I say that I've upgraded your CPUs enough times in these two years to warrant some sort of memory retainment. If anyone's going to be attracting attention, a group of you Dinobots will perform the job splendidly if I don't erect the Ark's shielding systems, thank goodness for Wheeljack." Perceptor quipped back. It had fascinated the scientist that despite the minor upgrades, the Dinobots still maintained their root personalities and behaviors. Whether or not the lack of change was of their own volition or just an unchangeable constant that Wheeljack had ingrained into them.

Perceptor was sure that it was the former.

A weak trill echoed through the command room, snapping the scientist from his train of thought. Perhaps mentioning Wheeljack was not the best plan of action, Perceptor observed as Swoop's wings fluttered half-heartedly. "We lucky then. Wheeljack finish project before he disappear, or we catch lots more attention." With Swoop's pronunciation, the collective atmosphere of the room seemed to lower as the absence of the Ark's former engineer was once again registered.

The bleak mood wasn't made to last.

"Me Grimlock still say we bash in all their brains!"

"Yeah! Where Spike's box? He promise box."

"Sludge bored with Ark every day. Get box, Perceptor make tool, rest of Autobots come to help, right?"

"No more stuck in boring forest every day!"

Perceptor quickly pushed the levers and made a last systems check before forcing his synthesizers to create a throat clearing noise to regain the attention of the Dinobots. "Our shipment is due to be arriving soon and we don't wish for our guests to miss us. I'm sure you can propose your complaints and solutions to Spike sometime in the future if time permits it."

Without further prompting, the Dinobots stampeded for the front entrance to the Ark. Stopping only to grab and subspace a small gadget hanging on the Ark's orange walls, Perceptor rushed after them to the rendezvous point hoping that this time, the confusion of Spike's 'employees' wouldn't lead to another reason for trouble. Primus knew that trouble had found them too many times already, there would be no place left to hide if it found them again.

Their quarry was found with relatively little difficulty, the headlights of the humans' car spearing bright beams of light through the heavy darkness of the forest area. As the Dinobots surrounded the vehicle, Perceptor retrieved the small object from storage and hid it easily in the palm of one charcoal hand. Car doors flew open and Perceptor quietly moved forward, quelling whatever previous feelings of anxiety that had crept into his systems as he moved to intercept the humans.

0oo0

Hiro Nakamura stood resolutely, sword brandished fearlessly towards the beast towering over him. The small, comic-loving, Japanese man stood beneath a huge dinosaur brandishing a sword. Isaac snorted into his glass of water as he banished the image of his painting from his mind. It made no sense, but then again, not many of his paintings did.

Rustling cloth alerted Isaac to Witwicky's movements further down the counter. The man hadn't touched his own drink yet. Suspicion piqued, the idea of water no longer seemed appealing to him. Cautiously, he set the glass back onto the counter with a light tap.

"They've been gone for almost an hour. How much longer will it take for them to get back?" Isaac demanded.

The store owner remained where he was, back faced towards Isaac as he shrugged. "Not too much longer."

Not too much longer. That was the answer he had been hearing for the past thirty minutes. A frustrated growl escaped Isaac's lips and he grabbed the closest thing possible before lunging towards Witwicky. "Where are they? It doesn't take this long to drop off a stupid crate." hissed Isaac, a letter opener poised shakily over the other man's throat. "Don't try playing me."

A familiar sounding click, then something pressed slowly into his abdomen. Isaac found himself pushed right back into his chair staring at the steadily aimed barrel of a small handgun.

"If you would please stay calm, Mr. Mendez. I'll take you to your friends immediately."

0oo0

"Please! Let us go! I have very important mission I have to complete. The store owner said we deliver box and go back to get Isaac. It very important that we deliver box."

"Hush! Hiro, don't speak to them. You might just encourage them!" Ando whispered urgently, pulling Hiro back as the long necked robotic dinosaur stared down at them with piercing blue eyes.

"Maybe this just bad misunderstanding..."

"Bad misunderstanding? Hiro! They're giant robots, giant transforming robots. They're not even supposed to be real!" muttered Ando, switching back to the more familiar language of Japanese. Hiro quickly followed suit.

"You said that my powers weren't real. But you see that they exist now!"

"Those are powers, these are characters out of after-school cartoons."

"Well...maybe they exist too?"

"Sure, next thing you know it Spock will beam down and use his Death Grip on all of us."

"There is one car robot."

"Yeah, but that's just a playground attraction. It isn't real!"

Their hushed conversation was interrupted as a large shadow enveloped both of them. Blue eyes glowed eerily above them before the large red and blue robot crouched down lower, a strange smile on its face. Instinctively, Ando grabbed Hiro around the middle and pulled the other man back, as far away as he could go from the terrifying not-really-apparition. As far back as he could go wasn't far as they swiftly found themselves up against a dull orange metal wall.

The large robot didn't move from its previous position, but its startling eyes stared curiously at them.

"Fascinating," Ando heard the synthesized voice exclaim in English. "They've reverted back to their native language." There was a brief moment of silence and Ando thought that perhaps the giant robot had malfunctioned, but there was no such luck. Ando jumped and Hiro made a startled exclamation as the red and blue robot began speaking fluently in their language. "Can you understand me? You humans are speaking Japanese, am I not correct?"

Attempting to hide all signs of anxiety, Ando took a step forward and stared directly into glowing blue eyes. "You should listen to my friend. We're very, very important people on a very important mission," Ando demanded slowly. "My friend here has great powers, if you don't let us go, he'll be forced to use them!"

"Ando!"

Said Japanese man swore as something jabbed sharply against his shin. "What was that for, Hiro?"

"Last time you said that, I ended up with a black eye! I have no power right now!" hissed Hiro frantically as he pointed at the sword hilt protruding over the top of an extremely tall, robot-sized counter-top.

"Powers? I wasn't aware that humans possessed any extra abilities."

The robot's voice was even closer than before and Ando's stomach jumped into his throat when he saw how close those large black hands were getting. A gap was now present in the 'living' wall that consisted of the robotic dinosaurs, all that stood between them and that hole was this robot. All they needed was a distraction…

Hiro suddenly wrenched himself from Ando's grasp and darted off to the left. Ando watched in horror as the large mechanical hands scooped the smaller man up into the air.

"Now! Ando, run!"

What? Ando stood rooted to the spot, staring at Hiro's flailing form. What the heck was that idiot thinking, running off like that? It was quite obvious that the first one of them to make a move to escape would be caught—

"Ando! Don't just stand there, go!"

"You…you're trying to save me?"

Before the idea was able to take firm root into his mind, Ando started when he found the ground rapidly receding away from his feet, a vice-like grip wrapped firmly but gently around his body. That shocking blue returned, closer this time, and if it were possible, puzzled looking.

"Ando, you were supposed to run," Hiro's voice grumbled from nearby.

"How was I supposed to know that you were going to do something as stupid as that?" Ando muttered back, not quite able to smother a smile that was threatening to smear itself all over his face.

The screech of tires was heard echoing through hallways and the world swung around as their captor turned to examine the source of the noise.

Any relief that Ando had felt upon seeing a familiar blue Nissan Versa peeling into the large room evaporated when he spotted the lack of an occupant in the driver's seat. Silence pervaded the room, interrupted only by the thrumming of the Versa's engine and the sounds of mechanical movement from the various robots. Next thing Ando knew, various splits appeared along the Versa's smooth surface and he found himself staring in utter shock as another robotic form replaced the area where his and Hiro's long-time transport had been.

Glowing azure eyes dimmed and shuttered repeatedly, coming as close to dazed as any machine Ando had seen before could become. Blankly, they shifted around the room and towards its occupants.

Ando promptly fainted.

0oo0

The Ark was abnormally quiet when Spike arrived. No loud exclamations from Dinobots reverberated through the corridors. No crashes of metallic feet pounded heavily on the floor. Further more, there were no signs of protest or sounds of human voices. Just the familiar rise and fall of Perceptor's voice echoed through the Ark's hallways from the command deck.

"Just keep moving, Mr. Mendez and keep your hands where I can see them," said Spike, the gun in his hand belying his gentle tone. Ahead of him, his companion pinned Spike with another piercing glare.

"What is this place? It's got to be the corniest get-up I've ever seen, a spaceship in the side of a mountain," sneered the man. "Either my friends have been abducted by aliens or they've been taken captive by a bunch of old 80s cartoon fanatics."

Spike fought the urge to roll his eyes and prodded the barrel of his gun impatiently to Mendez's back. "You'll see soon enough, Mr. Mendez. Just keep your wisecracks to yourself."

"What are you gonna do to me, huh? Shoot me? Lock me away in your little spaceship? I've got connections out there and they're going to notice if I go missing."

"Just shut up and move."

The muzzle of the gun jabbed harder into the other's back and Mendez wisely took the cue to shut his mouth.

What Spike saw next was a fist hurtling straight towards his face. Stars exploded in his vision as a numbing pain seared across his cheek. The floor of the Ark met Spike with a resounding smack and the sound of something small and metallic skittered quickly away.  
Footsteps padded quickly away and Spike struggled to regain his equilibrium. Something warm and moist smeared across the back of his hand as he wiped furiously at his nose. When Spike looked up, this time he was the one doing business at the receiving end of his gun.

"Alright now Mr. Witwicky, I hope I have your full cooperation on this. Take me to Hiro and Ando and release them, and maybe I'll resist the urge to blow out your brains."

Spike staggered to his feet and pushed a soiled handkerchief firmly against his nose before facing the man. His mind raced through all the scenarios and possibilities it could come up with, but none of them came up with satisfactory results. Carly was waiting at home with Daniel. Perceptor and the Dinobots hopefully came away with the shipment and had the other machine up and running. Leading Mendez to where his friends were and in turn to the in hiding Autobots would be of no further consequence to him or the mechs. "...You have a deal Mr. Mendez."

"Good, now lead the way."

Spike entered the command deck first and was greeted by a pair of narrowed optics.

"You Spike late, Teletraan-I say you get here while ago," grunted Slag, lowering his horns so the one atop his nose nearly grazed against Spike's hair. "What take you so long?"

"Slag, this might not be—"

"Oh shit!"

A gunshot rang through the air, the bullet whizzed past Spike's shoulder, screaming as it ricocheted off Slag's heavy armor plating and came to a violent stop on the ground. Behind him, Spike could hear Mendez's labored breath and frenzied movements as the man struggled to re-aim the pistol at its target. Slag swished his tail lazily through the air, unperturbed.

"Wait!" Spike clamped a hand down on Mendez's wrist, halting the other's frantic movements. "Don't shoot. You're going to hurt somebody."

"You're protecting it?" growled Mendez, still attempting to wrench his arm from Spike's grasp. Not for the first time, Spike silently thanked whoever was listening for the good that those years of physical labor as an oil rig worker and a mechanic had done for him.

"Slag here doesn't need any protecting. But if you keep on shooting around those bullets, one of them is bound to bounce off his armor and end up in someone else." Spike forcefully pushed Mendez's arm so that the gun was now pointing at the floor. The man glared back with fearful fury.

"Maybe if I'm lucky it would hit you instead, you sick bastard," hissed Mendez, his whole body trembling. Whether it was in anger or in fear, Spike couldn't tell.

The stare-off continued for what seemed to be an eternity before a joyful cry erupted from further away in the room.

"Mr. Isaac!"

Mendez snapped his head towards the direction of the exclamation. A few meters away, one of the two Japanese men that had accompanied Mendez to the store earlier that day waved enthusiastically towards them.

The moisture in Spike's mouth dried up as fear seized hold of him for the first time during this whole operation. What was going on? Why were the other men roaming around freely? Where was Perceptor? Where was that goddamn machine of his?

"Hiro, where's Ando?" demanded Mendez.

The small Japanese man let out a weak grin before pointing somewhere behind him. "He a little groggy. Just wake up from faint."

A snicker escaped from Mendez. "He fainted?"

"Yes. There was big surprise and Mr. Robot hold him too hard. Not enough blood get to brain, so he faint, Mr. Robot told me," said Hiro a bit more confidently.

"Mr. Robot?" asked Mendez dryly.

"He means Perceptor," Spike muttered. Slowly he turned to face Hiro, still keeping a firm grip on Mendez's hand. "Where's Perceptor, by the way?"

"Perceptor? That his name?" a thoughtful look passed over Hiro's face before the small man blanched and let loose a stream of what Spike guessed was Japanese. When Spike nor Isaac made no move to respond, Hiro tried again, this time in English. "Perceptor, like Perceptor in Transformer?"

Spike winced at the comparison and nodded. Somewhere behind him, he heard something clatter to the floor. Spike could feel Mendez's wrist spasm erratically in his hand. "Yeah, so tell me, where is he?"

Slowly, Hiro pointed further back in the command deck. "He talking to Nissan Versa."

Past the loose circle of Dinobots, closer to Teletraan-I's controls, Spike could see the back of the Autobot scientist, but that was not what startled him. Sitting at Perceptor's feet was another mech. At first glance, the blue and grey plating held nothing that was recognizable to Spike, but as his gaze traveled further up, a familiar faceplate and red chevron stared back at him.

Wrenching his hand away from Mendez's wrist, Spike shoved past Hiro and sprinted towards Perceptor and the not-so-strange mech. Before he could reach the mech's side, Perceptor's hand stopped him meters away, the scientist giving Spike a warning look.

Chest heaving and heart racing, Spike gaped openly towards the mech seated at Perceptor's feet.

"Bluestreak?

The blue mech cocked his head in confusion and Spike could feel the other's optics scanning him over. After a pregnant silence, Bluestreak's gaze swung from Spike to Perceptor and back to Spike before speaking. "Do I know you?"

0oo0

"Those metal freaks didn't hurt you, did they?"

Hiro glanced up from Ando's side and shook his head. "They scary at first, but they don't hurt us. I explain everything…well, almost everything." He flashed Isaac a reassuring smile. "Everything A-OK."

"A-OK? What do you mean A-OK? They fucking kidnapped the two of you!"

"No, no, no. They only want box. Later, Mr. Robo – ah, Perceptor, say that they will wipe memory of night away."

"Then what are you still doing here? Let's get out of here now!" Isaac reached for him, but the Hiro danced away, a petulant expression on his face.

"No! We have to stay here, they have the Nissan Versa!"

"Forget about the car, we can rent a new one!" exclaimed Isaac, reaching and missing again.

This time Hiro reached into his book bag and pulled out a rolled up comic book. "Can't rent new car. Must have Nissan Versa, remember?" Hiro pointed towards the picture of him and Ando driving off in the last panel of Isaac's future _9th Wonders_ comic. "It's our destiny. Shukumei."

Hiro watched as the artist growled in frustration. After a minute of pacing, Isaac looked back towards him with a set frown on his face. "Fine, just fine. But if we wake up tomorrow morning with no memory of what the heck happened or on some alien spaceship, I'm blaming it all on you."

0oo0

Spike read urgently through Perceptor's med-scanner for the umpteenth time before finally giving up.

This was Bluestreak alright, the med-scanner confirmed that much in the mech's electron field signature. But—he eyed the blue mech up and down, attempting to take in the sharp-shooter's new clumsy form.

"He's got no memory at all, Perceptor? They've erased it?"

Perceptor sniffed at the comment, as if thinking that such an act of altering a Cybertronian's programmings were incapable by human standards. "No, his memory banks to my knowledge haven't been altered. It's just been completely removed. They've gone and replaced it with a shoddy imitation. I'm surprised that he has any short-term memory at all." The scientist glanced back down at Spike with a semi-apologetic smile. "No immediate offense to you humans."

"None taken, I know what you mean," Spike replied with a sigh. "What'll we do now?"

"Actually, I was hoping that your new friends would know," said Perceptor, turning to look at the trio huddled tightly together in the middle of the command deck. "The Japanese humans were the ones to find Bluestreak. The one named Hiro told me they rented him from an airport parking garage. Is that usually where humans put stolen goods?"

"Stolen? Am I stolen? Cause I knew something didn't feel exactly right and I've had this weird feeling right where my fuel pump is since I rebooted and I'd really like to know what exactly is going on because from what I can tell, those two guys have been driving around in me for weeks and the small one, yeah he's the one I distinctly remember first and—"

"Yeah, definitely Bluestreak," said Spike, chuckling lightly for the first time in a long while. "I'd recognize that voice anywhere."

"Is there anything else you remember, anything at all about the people who apprehended you and the others?" asked Perceptor gently.

Bluestreak's optics dimmed and his mouth slid into a set line as he drew his new body closer to himself. Something incoherent jumbled out of the sniper's vocalizer.  
"Say that again, Blue?"

"I remember being scared," whispered Bluestreak after a moment of hesitation. "I had no idea where I was, who I was." His gaze darted upwards to Perceptor, as if looking for something familiar he could latch onto. "A man appeared in front of me, told me my name and designation number. Then everything went black. Next thing I know, I come to again and feel someone prodding around on my dash. That would be Hiro over there. The rest is exactly as he told you earlier, Perceptor."

The scientist nodded slowly and rested a hand over Bluestreak's shoulder strut, "It's heartening that you're back with us. We're now one step closer in securing the others."

"Oh, how touching. Why didn't I get invited back to this reunion?"

"Who would want you at any party, you mooch?"

Spike spun around towards the new voices, fear seizing him again. Why hadn't Teletraan-I warned them of intruders coming anywhere close to the Ark?

When he caught sight of the newcomers, he immediately realized why. Head poked out from an open window, a middle-aged Hispanic man smirked back at him as he lounged comfortably in the interior of a vintage blue Corvette Viper.

"What's up, Spike? We were in the neighborhood and we thought to drop by. Got some guests?"

Raoul grinned winningly from his seat, a trait Spike instantly recognized as belonging to the other man's companion. As soon as Raoul stepped out of the car, the Corvette split and twisted into another mech. Transformation complete, Autobot Tracks beamed smugly back at them.

0oo0

"More? There's more of them now?" whispered Isaac as Hiro and Ando curiously watched the exchange between the giant robots. Their trio was totally being ignored now in favor of the two newcomers. Instead of taking advantage of this obvious opportunity to run, his two companions were content just standing there, speaking to each other in hushed Japanese.

Discussion ended when all attention was turned back to them. Isaac found himself twitching his fingers on an illusionary handgrip. A hundred meters away, near the entrance to the large room, lay the discarded gun.

Large metal 'feet' stopped a good distance away from the group and their human companions came forward until only a couple feet separated them from the trio.

"So you know where to find the others?" asked Witwicky.

"Others?" Hiro cast a sidelong glance towards Ando before turning back to Witwicky. "You mean like other Transformer, from TV show?"

"I'd prefer not to be associated with that childish serialization," snorted the red-faced robot, flicking black fingers distastefully through the air.

Hiro nodded his head quickly once before continuing. "I...do not know."

"I told you, Spike. Why should they know? Just put them through the doohicky and send them off already," drawled the unnamed man.

"No wait, wait! W-we know of one, perhaps." stammered Ando, an alarmed look passing over his face at the mention of the strange memory erasing machine that had been brought up a few moments before.

All eyes turned to the Japanese man and Isaac could see him visibly gulp before going on. "I knew of one transforming robot, years ago in Japan. They said he was only a model, celebrating the successful series, good for tourist attractions."

"What he look like?" demanded the large T-Rex.

Ando jumped at the robot's close proximity and muttered what looked like a quick prayer before going on. "I don't remember too well, it was a long time ago. But it was a Porsche, and when it transformed, the robot had some sort of blue visor–"

"Jazz," interrupted Witwicky with a quick intake of breath.

Isaac shot Ando a quick look of thanks for the other's fast thinking, never mind if the information was true or not. It got them off the hook. Or so he thought.


End file.
